And that's why I think that the police should have a NASCAR-style "Have at it boys" policy when it comes to dealing with the paps, especially when the endanger innocent people like what happened with Kristen and Rob over summer with that car chase deal.

Like, for instance, ArtyLinz, you being from the UK, I wouldn't issue the police Vauxhall Astra diesels. I'd issue them a Vauxhall that most people would want to buy--the Vauxhall VXR8 Bathurst model, the one with the supercharged 560bhp 6.2 liter V8 in it. I'd even remove the 155mph governer off the ECU--those things would probably go over 200mph! And in Germany, I'd give the police Audi S6 and RS6s, BMW M5s and Mercedes-Benz E63 AMGs, without the 155 limiter on them.

I don't like the idea of vigliantism, but maybe that combined with guards and police authorized to use violent force if necessary might be what stops them. And if that's the case, what can be said about people so ignorant and stupid that they'd bring fist-fights and being tackled and hog-tied by cops and thrown in the slammer on to themselves?

I'd personally love to see paps gettin' busted on an episode of COPS. Paps being carted of the jail to Inner Cirlce's "Bad Boys", that'll make my day.

I think one of the larger issues is that the papz have been legally protected from individuals protecting themselves or lashing out at them. The papz have pressed both criminal and civil charges against celebrities who have taken any action against them and won in the court. That is one of the biggest reasons the police fail to get involved. We've seen it for decades. Alec Baldwin, Kim Basinger, Sean Penn, Gwyneth Paltrow, Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Rachel Weisz... all of them, whether intentionally or by accident, did or caused something to happen to the papz who were stalking and harassing them and ended up in criminal or civil court and paying through the nose. I'd never condone lashing out, but everyone has the right to protect themselves. And yet, when celebrities have reached out to the justice system for help, for protection, they are told over and over that it is a consequence of the privileged life they lead and they should be glad they lead a life that warrants the attention. Don't worry about your safety or that of your loved one's. Don't worry about your children or their safety. It's ridiculous and sick and wrong. So, what choice have they?

Jazz Girl wrote:I think one of the larger issues is that the papz have been legally protected from individuals protecting themselves or lashing out at them. The papz have pressed both criminal and civil charges against celebrities who have taken any action against them and won in the court. That is one of the biggest reasons the police fail to get involved. We've seen it for decades. Alec Baldwin, Kim Basinger, Sean Penn, Gwyneth Paltrow, Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Rachel Weisz... all of them, whether intentionally or by accident, did or caused something to happen to the papz who were stalking and harassing them and ended up in criminal or civil court and paying through the nose. I'd never condone lashing out, but everyone has the right to protect themselves. And yet, when celebrities have reached out to the justice system for help, for protection, they are told over and over that it is a consequence of the privileged life they lead and they should be glad they lead a life that warrants the attention. Don't worry about your safety or that of your loved one's. Don't worry about your children or their safety. It's ridiculous and sick and wrong. So, what choice have they?

Maybe the fans should slap, punch or kick some the paps' asses then. Or maybe we should just grab a few of them, get their ID's and sue them. Maybe court judges and politicians should pay up to us, the taxpayers, for the bleepin' privleged lives they lead thanks to us. We elect these people, pay them with our tax dollars, and we get crap in return. Maybe they should remember that celebs campaign for them, and that a little pay back is in order, let alone the people who elect these morons.

Thankfully, the tide is turning it seems. Nicole Richie and Sienna Miller have been grated TRO's against the paps, which allows them to have the paps arrested or sued. Maybe as a society most people hate the paps, and since we pay politicos saleries with our tax dollars, maybe they're taking heed. What they won't do, we'll find someone who will come election time.

Even then, some of these people won't stop--the guards in Brazil had guns and were trained in hand-to-hand combat, but that didn't stop the set break in there. At the Baton Rouge compound where other BD scenes are being filmed, the guards have guns, nightsticks, are trained in basic hand to hand combat, and have a 6 foot concrete wall and the backing of the Louisana State Government to do what's necessary to prevent unauthorized intrusions, but I doubt that they'd stop them all. Only other thing I can think of is hire Army and Marine Corps reservist and National Guardsmen to protect these areas, and I believe that they have better things to do than guard a movie set.

If our judges and politicians think that Celebs live privelged lives, at least they're not doing so off of tax payer money Maybe these damn morons should be thankful that they live such privleged lives in their own right because we have to pay taxes to pay their saleries. The least they can do is make it easier to arrest and sue the paps, who stalk and harass celebs. We know that if it were you or I, these creeps would have their asses hauled to the nearest state prison. Why not for celebs, the people we aspire to be. We have the right to have such people arrested or sued. Maybe these judges and politicians should be stalked and treated like crap by these people. Maybe that'll change their tune.

Chernaudi wrote:Like, for instance, ArtyLinz, you being from the UK, I wouldn't issue the police Vauxhall Astra diesels. I'd issue them a Vauxhall that most people would want to buy--the Vauxhall VXR8 Bathurst model, the one with the supercharged 560bhp 6.2 liter V8 in it. I'd even remove the 155mph governer off the ECU--those things would probably go over 200mph! And in Germany, I'd give the police Audi S6 and RS6s, BMW M5s and Mercedes-Benz E63 AMGs, without the 155 limiter on them.

I so agree!

"It sounded like you were having Bella for lunch, and we came to see if you would share".

And in addition, I'd have car rentals issue the paps god-awful stuff along the lines of say, the Citroen 2CV, the Morris Marina or Ital, the Austin Allegro, the Lada Riva, and the Yugo. This does sound like an older post, but it has relevance.

Someone once said that on policical spending that he had what was called the British Leyland model--dump a lot of money and resources at the top, and an Austin Allegro would come out at the bottom. The BL model applies here. People dump a lot of money and demand into the paps and tabloidsters hands, and a Morris Marina comes out at the bottom. Why the Marina instead of the Allegro? In it's 14 year production life (the final four as the Ital), it was consistantly one of Britian's best selling cars, in spite of it's awfulness, and that's largely what the British Taxpayers got in return in the mid '70s when the British Government quasi-nationalized British Leyland.

Politicians know that they're for sale to the voters, but they need reminding of it every now and then. And the Paps and tabloid people need reminding that this is capitalism, meaning that we have the choice and RIGHT not to buy their crap.

And a final evil though, maybe there should be a future episode of Top Gear where Jeremy, James and Richard have to test steriotypical pap/tabloid journalist cars, with the back up car being a Morris Marina or Austin Allegro that at the end of the challenge gets a piano dropped on it, along with the other cars getting skips/dumpsters dropped on them, or maybe one gets buried under crap by a muck spreader--all of which are things that Clarkson and Top Gear have done to cars in the past.

Or maybe Jeremy Clarkson should torture some of those cars in his next DVD.

I think the latest Vanity Fair article about Rob showes pretty good how fans and paps effect his and probarbly the rest of the casts life. And I am very sorry for them, because it must be like living in a cage. What we all can do is not to buy magazines or click on those pictures on websites and with that minimize the papz profit. And we can support campaignes that support the privacy of the actors we like and tell/show others about those campaigns, so they might think about their own action. Here is an example of such a campaign by German fans http://www.twilight-fans.de/exklusiv/aktion-respect-me/

Of course sticter laws against papz and the police actually doing something against them is very important, too. But that will only happen if they know that there is a majority that supports that...

I read that VF article, too, and I am struck by the profound archetypal parallel that Rob balances every day. On one level, he portrays a vampire in a fictional series, and on another level, he struggles with the real-life vampiric experience of what it means to be uber-famous and to have a normal life "sucked" out of him, such that he has to perpetually hide from the symbolic vampire (pop culture, paparazzi, maniac fans). It is THIS vampire who seems impossible to satiate, who finds Rob no matter where he hides, and who denies him any peace or sacred space.

The real vampire won't let him be "just" human, so he is chased, hunted, preyed upon -- and so is Kristen, Taylor, even poor little Booboo.

After reading that VF article, my hope for Rob is that he transcends the ravenous beast hunting his very flesh as this Twilight frenzy plays out, and that somehow he comes to see the archetypal parallel as an interesting opportunity to reflect on his inner strength and his personal resolve to maintain HIS sense of humanity and HIS sense of what is real (and what isn't). While outrunning and surviving the media/fan vampire probably seems more real than anything else in his life right now, the truth is Rob will get his life back (someday), and when he does, he will have a choice about whether our collective feeding has created another hollow, lifeless Hollywood shell, or a whole and vibrant young man with confidence and humility. The vampire may continue to hunt, but whether it wins and how Rob responds to that challenge, is up to him. God speed, Robert.

Jennie Malone wrote:I read that VF article, too, and I am struck by the profound archetypal parallel that Rob balances every day. On one level, he portrays a vampire in a fictional series, and on another level, he struggles with the real-life vampiric experience of what it means to be uber-famous and to have a normal life "sucked" out of him, such that he has to perpetually hide from the symbolic vampire (pop culture, paparazzi, maniac fans). It is THIS vampire who seems impossible to satiate, who finds Rob no matter where he hides, and who denies him any peace or sacred space.

The real vampire won't let him be "just" human, so he is chased, hunted, preyed upon -- and so is Kristen, Taylor, even poor little Booboo.

After reading that VF article, my hope for Rob is that he transcends the ravenous beast hunting his very flesh as this Twilight frenzy plays out, and that somehow he comes to see the archetypal parallel as an interesting opportunity to reflect on his inner strength and his personal resolve to maintain HIS sense of humanity and HIS sense of what is real (and what isn't). While outrunning and surviving the media/fan vampire probably seems more real than anything else in his life right now, the truth is Rob will get his life back (someday), and when he does, he will have a choice about whether our collective feeding has created another hollow, lifeless Hollywood shell, or a whole and vibrant young man with confidence and humility. The vampire may continue to hunt, but whether it wins and how Rob responds to that challenge, is up to him. God speed, Robert.